-5-
How Big is God
(Part IV)
Genesis 1:26 – 2:25
God creates man and places him in the garden
In Genesis 1:26 and 27, Moses introduces the creation of Mankind and gives a 'capsule' or digest summary of what he will enlarge on in chapter 2.
Ge 1:26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
God does not say as He did earlier, “ And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures... He does not say “Let the earth bring forth man.” He speaks, not to the earth but to Himself as the Trinity.
God created man and 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 ¶ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
30 “Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.
He had said regarding everything He had created, that it was good. In this case He says 31 ¶ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
This change in the way He introduces the next creation, tells us that Man is the principal item. He is the reason for which God has made everything else. This is the beginning of the history of man.
What does it mean to be created in God's image? Here are a few key words, traits or attributes that particularly apply to both God and to mankind, but not to animals (you may think of others).
Self-consciousness, personality, rationality (including the ability to reason morally), intelligence, creativity, relationships .
A person could spend a great deal of time looking at each one of these words and compare God's likeness in us. And after the time has been spent, our appreciation and love for God should be even greater than it is now.
Moses has covered creation in the first chapter. As we begin reading chapter 2 we notice God's emphasis on the sacredness of the seventh day.
2:1 ¶ Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Is the seventh day supposed to be honored or 'held' as the correct day of rest and worship for believers in our present era?
Some Christian groups believe so. Seventh Day Adventists have practiced this since they became a church denomination. Back in church history there was a group calling themselves Seventh Day Baptists. Presently there are those who refer to themselves as Messianic believers, and they honor and keep the seventh day as their 'holy day'.
Did the early church of the book of Acts practice Sabbath day keeping? Very likely they did, at least in the very beginning.
Sabbath keeping and other Mosaic laws were obviously an issue in the early church, because something led Paul to address the subject in Colossians 2.
13 ¶ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 ¶ So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,
17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
It is essential for us to recognize that the 'shadows' were there to point us to the One Who casts the shadow.
But having said that, to those who had grown up before Christ came, the shadows spoke of hope, of longing and of faith. Their practice of observing every special day and ceremony was etched into their hearts. For the first members of the first church, to give up those days would have left a huge vacuum in their lives and Godly worship. It would take some time before Christian worship could take on its own nature.
God rested on the seventh day to teach us that He is the author of it all. He completed it. When we come to Him in belief and trust, we recognize that He did it all. Consider what the writer of Hebrews said about this.
Heb 4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’" although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."
Christ is our Sabbath.
Continuing in our study of Genesis we read this statement of Moses;
2:4 ¶ This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;
Moses gave us a sequential account of creation in the first chapter. Now he is filling in some special details. He goes back to the end of day 5 and even earlier and points out the unique environment of the earth. Everything in the physical universe and specifically on this earth, was working according to God's plan. And there has been no rain on the earth. He says,
6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
What we know about weather today is all about sunshine, rain, wind etc. The fact that Noah had never seen a rainbow before the flood tells us that the conditions we are reading about in Genesis lasted until the flood. There will be more about that in chapter 6.
Genesis 2 verse 7 details the creation of man, prior to creating woman. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
Our 'make-up' from the basic cellular level is that of common elements of the earth. I believe God brought these together … not as merely a clay model lying on the ground … but cell by cell constructed Adam's body.
God started his body working; the heart pumping; the lungs breathing … and gave him a soul and spirit, living in the body.
What do we know about our soul and spirit? Can a spirit die? What is the difference between a soul and a spirit? Here is a passage that indicates that they are very closely associated.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
And the following passage that indicates that we are more than body and spirit, we are 'tripartite' … (who comes up with these fancy words!) … and not a trinity, as God is.
1Th 5:23 ¶ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
An additional difference between animal and man, that is, another attribute of being made in God's image, is the creation of a soul that is as eternal as God is.
The Garden of Eden
8 ¶ The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.
11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush.
14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
16 ¶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
So human history has begun. God made a human. He made him perfect. He had him interact and join Him in His work. God had first made the animals. Now He brings them past Adam one at a time and gives him the privilege of naming them. This took some time … how much time? We can only guess.
God gave Adam another privilege … or we might look at it as a responsibility … and that was to tend the garden of Eden. In my imagination, this is not a backyard garden. It is not a two acre garden. I see it as miles big. This is Adam's home. He works here. This 'tending the garden' covered a period of time … we can only guess how much time.
Who was with Adam in the garden? Animals that he had named. By the way, none of them were wild or touched by the sin nature of this present world.
Who else was there? God was there and walked and talked with him
Ge 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, …
This verse mentions 'they' heard. It includes Eve, but I am sure that God spoke with Adam every day even before Eve came into the picture..
There will be more about this in a later chapter. Who else was there? I believe Lucifer was there. He will show up in chapter three in a different form, but for now let's read a little of how the Bible describes Lucifer.
Eze 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.
Lucifer, the very highest ranking of all of God's angels, was in Eden. That was not where he had his beginning. The Angels, Lucifer included, were made before the earth and the universe. In the book of Job it says that the angels expressed joy with each act of God's creation.
Earth was made first. God made it for the purpose of making a home for mankind. Then he made the universe. God had said, let the dry land appear … etc. etc. We are told in Genesis 2:11-12 about a river that splits into four. And one is mentioned as skirting a section of land that was rich in the finest gold and also other precious gems.
Lucifer was there as soon as it was made. He was the highest ranking angel of God and no doubt was there by the will and purpose of God.
But, Lucifer 'fell' from his lofty position. His sin was pride. By the way, God did not create sin. Sin is actually the absence of good … and it gets worse from there. Darkness is the absence of light. Pride is the absence of appreciation and praise to the one who deserves credit. Sometimes pride can be totally silent. It dwells in the heart. God detects it.
For how long a time did Adam tend the garden before he got real lonely? We are not told, but Lucifer 'fell' during this time. He took some angels with him. Often we say that he led one third of the angels in a rebellion against God. To be specific, he may have had about half of the angels on his side. The reason I suspect this is that in the end time he will attack God one last time. Revelation 12:4 and onward makes it clear that he will attack God with one third of the angels. Fallen angels. Presently called demons. But are these the only angels who sinned? Jude mentions that a lot of angels are chained up and reserved for judgment. They will not come out of their confinement until then. But another passage in Revelation says that there are some who are presently in a holding place who WILL be released during the tribulation. If these numbers are significant, I think the original group who attacked God shortly after creation may have been more than 50%. Otherwise … how could he have been so stupid as to think he would stand a chance for a successful coup? How many good angels does that leave? Check Revelation 5:11 and Hebrews 12:22
Next, God provides some company for Adam.
Ge 2:18 ¶ And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
19 Out of the ground the LORD God (had) formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.
20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
“It is not good that man should be alone ...” A look into the heart of God shows us that He cared about Adam. He cares about us.
We are made for interaction with others. We interact with God as did Adam, but God recognized that this was not enough for him. Why do some people choose to live apart from the world in some remote backwoods place? Usually it indicates that something went wrong in this person's past. They have been hurt and disappointed with people and have given up on them. That is not a healthy place to be in. Why are some men attracted to other men? In a great many of the cases this perversion takes place because of a failure to relate to the opposite sex. They did not feel attractive enough to pursue a relationship with the opposite sex, or they tried to pursue a relationship but were continuously rejected. But the need for companionship was still there, so …?
Why do some prefer to worship alone instead of with the family of God? Usually it indicates that something has gone wrong. It is not good for man to be alone physically, emotionally or spiritually.
Notice that Adam did not complain about being alone. He had God and he felt good about that. But God is the One who says it is not good for us to be alone. Being part of a fellowship of believers is God's idea and is for our good and the good of others.
God saw that in all of His creation there was nothing and no one to fix the problem of isolation.
But God has a solution, as we will see in our next study
In Genesis 1:26 and 27, Moses introduces the creation of Mankind and gives a 'capsule' or digest summary of what he will enlarge on in chapter 2.
Ge 1:26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
God does not say as He did earlier, “ And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures... He does not say “Let the earth bring forth man.” He speaks, not to the earth but to Himself as the Trinity.
God created man and 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 ¶ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
30 “Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.
He had said regarding everything He had created, that it was good. In this case He says 31 ¶ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
This change in the way He introduces the next creation, tells us that Man is the principal item. He is the reason for which God has made everything else. This is the beginning of the history of man.
What does it mean to be created in God's image? Here are a few key words, traits or attributes that particularly apply to both God and to mankind, but not to animals (you may think of others).
Self-consciousness, personality, rationality (including the ability to reason morally), intelligence, creativity, relationships .
A person could spend a great deal of time looking at each one of these words and compare God's likeness in us. And after the time has been spent, our appreciation and love for God should be even greater than it is now.
Moses has covered creation in the first chapter. As we begin reading chapter 2 we notice God's emphasis on the sacredness of the seventh day.
2:1 ¶ Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.
2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Is the seventh day supposed to be honored or 'held' as the correct day of rest and worship for believers in our present era?
Some Christian groups believe so. Seventh Day Adventists have practiced this since they became a church denomination. Back in church history there was a group calling themselves Seventh Day Baptists. Presently there are those who refer to themselves as Messianic believers, and they honor and keep the seventh day as their 'holy day'.
Did the early church of the book of Acts practice Sabbath day keeping? Very likely they did, at least in the very beginning.
Sabbath keeping and other Mosaic laws were obviously an issue in the early church, because something led Paul to address the subject in Colossians 2.
13 ¶ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 ¶ So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,
17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
It is essential for us to recognize that the 'shadows' were there to point us to the One Who casts the shadow.
But having said that, to those who had grown up before Christ came, the shadows spoke of hope, of longing and of faith. Their practice of observing every special day and ceremony was etched into their hearts. For the first members of the first church, to give up those days would have left a huge vacuum in their lives and Godly worship. It would take some time before Christian worship could take on its own nature.
God rested on the seventh day to teach us that He is the author of it all. He completed it. When we come to Him in belief and trust, we recognize that He did it all. Consider what the writer of Hebrews said about this.
Heb 4:3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’" although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all his works."
Christ is our Sabbath.
Continuing in our study of Genesis we read this statement of Moses;
2:4 ¶ This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
5 before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground;
Moses gave us a sequential account of creation in the first chapter. Now he is filling in some special details. He goes back to the end of day 5 and even earlier and points out the unique environment of the earth. Everything in the physical universe and specifically on this earth, was working according to God's plan. And there has been no rain on the earth. He says,
6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
What we know about weather today is all about sunshine, rain, wind etc. The fact that Noah had never seen a rainbow before the flood tells us that the conditions we are reading about in Genesis lasted until the flood. There will be more about that in chapter 6.
Genesis 2 verse 7 details the creation of man, prior to creating woman. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
Our 'make-up' from the basic cellular level is that of common elements of the earth. I believe God brought these together … not as merely a clay model lying on the ground … but cell by cell constructed Adam's body.
God started his body working; the heart pumping; the lungs breathing … and gave him a soul and spirit, living in the body.
What do we know about our soul and spirit? Can a spirit die? What is the difference between a soul and a spirit? Here is a passage that indicates that they are very closely associated.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
And the following passage that indicates that we are more than body and spirit, we are 'tripartite' … (who comes up with these fancy words!) … and not a trinity, as God is.
1Th 5:23 ¶ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
An additional difference between animal and man, that is, another attribute of being made in God's image, is the creation of a soul that is as eternal as God is.
The Garden of Eden
8 ¶ The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.
11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush.
14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
16 ¶ And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
So human history has begun. God made a human. He made him perfect. He had him interact and join Him in His work. God had first made the animals. Now He brings them past Adam one at a time and gives him the privilege of naming them. This took some time … how much time? We can only guess.
God gave Adam another privilege … or we might look at it as a responsibility … and that was to tend the garden of Eden. In my imagination, this is not a backyard garden. It is not a two acre garden. I see it as miles big. This is Adam's home. He works here. This 'tending the garden' covered a period of time … we can only guess how much time.
Who was with Adam in the garden? Animals that he had named. By the way, none of them were wild or touched by the sin nature of this present world.
Who else was there? God was there and walked and talked with him
Ge 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, …
This verse mentions 'they' heard. It includes Eve, but I am sure that God spoke with Adam every day even before Eve came into the picture..
There will be more about this in a later chapter. Who else was there? I believe Lucifer was there. He will show up in chapter three in a different form, but for now let's read a little of how the Bible describes Lucifer.
Eze 28:13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.
Lucifer, the very highest ranking of all of God's angels, was in Eden. That was not where he had his beginning. The Angels, Lucifer included, were made before the earth and the universe. In the book of Job it says that the angels expressed joy with each act of God's creation.
Earth was made first. God made it for the purpose of making a home for mankind. Then he made the universe. God had said, let the dry land appear … etc. etc. We are told in Genesis 2:11-12 about a river that splits into four. And one is mentioned as skirting a section of land that was rich in the finest gold and also other precious gems.
Lucifer was there as soon as it was made. He was the highest ranking angel of God and no doubt was there by the will and purpose of God.
But, Lucifer 'fell' from his lofty position. His sin was pride. By the way, God did not create sin. Sin is actually the absence of good … and it gets worse from there. Darkness is the absence of light. Pride is the absence of appreciation and praise to the one who deserves credit. Sometimes pride can be totally silent. It dwells in the heart. God detects it.
For how long a time did Adam tend the garden before he got real lonely? We are not told, but Lucifer 'fell' during this time. He took some angels with him. Often we say that he led one third of the angels in a rebellion against God. To be specific, he may have had about half of the angels on his side. The reason I suspect this is that in the end time he will attack God one last time. Revelation 12:4 and onward makes it clear that he will attack God with one third of the angels. Fallen angels. Presently called demons. But are these the only angels who sinned? Jude mentions that a lot of angels are chained up and reserved for judgment. They will not come out of their confinement until then. But another passage in Revelation says that there are some who are presently in a holding place who WILL be released during the tribulation. If these numbers are significant, I think the original group who attacked God shortly after creation may have been more than 50%. Otherwise … how could he have been so stupid as to think he would stand a chance for a successful coup? How many good angels does that leave? Check Revelation 5:11 and Hebrews 12:22
Next, God provides some company for Adam.
Ge 2:18 ¶ And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
19 Out of the ground the LORD God (had) formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.
20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
“It is not good that man should be alone ...” A look into the heart of God shows us that He cared about Adam. He cares about us.
We are made for interaction with others. We interact with God as did Adam, but God recognized that this was not enough for him. Why do some people choose to live apart from the world in some remote backwoods place? Usually it indicates that something went wrong in this person's past. They have been hurt and disappointed with people and have given up on them. That is not a healthy place to be in. Why are some men attracted to other men? In a great many of the cases this perversion takes place because of a failure to relate to the opposite sex. They did not feel attractive enough to pursue a relationship with the opposite sex, or they tried to pursue a relationship but were continuously rejected. But the need for companionship was still there, so …?
Why do some prefer to worship alone instead of with the family of God? Usually it indicates that something has gone wrong. It is not good for man to be alone physically, emotionally or spiritually.
Notice that Adam did not complain about being alone. He had God and he felt good about that. But God is the One who says it is not good for us to be alone. Being part of a fellowship of believers is God's idea and is for our good and the good of others.
God saw that in all of His creation there was nothing and no one to fix the problem of isolation.
But God has a solution, as we will see in our next study